After announcing a lineup of planned participants for RISE 93 on June 9th, RISE has announced one of their biggest matchups to date, pitting their current 60kg champion Kosuke Komiyama against recently dethroned 63kg champ Yuki. Both men have flourished in RISE over the last couple of years, beating top foreign and domestic competition. Komiyama is currently one of the hottest fighters in Japan, riding a 9-fight win streak that includes winning and defending his RISE title and 3 straight wins in Shootboxing, two of which came over Shootboxing champions. His biggest win came in an albeit abbreviated fight over Sergio Wielzen, with Komiyama opening a cut over Wielzen's eye that forced the referee to stop the bout in the 1st. Until recently, he was LiverKick's 10th ranked Lightweight, but dropped out of the top 10 after the emergence of Yuki and Sun Hyun Lee. Despite just an 8-5 record since 2010, Yuki is LiverKick's 5th ranked Lightweight due to fighting one of the toughest schedules at the weight. He was RISE's first 60kg and 63kg champion and holds notable wins over Javier Hernandez, Koji Yoshimoto, Yuji Takeuchi and Yuto Watanabe, among others. He most recently competed in the Road to GLORY Japan 65kg Slam, defeating Mohan Dragon and Zen Fujita before falling to Masaaki Noiri in the finals. He also has a pair of losses to 4th ranked Lightweight Sun Hyun Lee, losing his RISE title in their most recent encounter.

I would peg Komiyama as the favorite here due to his hot streak and it being a very good style matchup for him. Yuki has struggled with more technical fighters, especially recently, falling to Masaaki Noiri and Sun Hyun Lee while needing a dramatic comeback to beat Yuto Watanabe. That being said, Komiyama has never faced anyone with Yuki's power, nor has he faced anyone with such ferocious leg kicks. The fight is only 3 rounds which favors Komiyama, as I doubt he'll be able to put away Yuki, who has tremendous heart. A win for either man is big and will probably determine if Yuki stays in the LiverKick top 10 or if Komiyama reenters.

RISE also announced four other matchups, showcasing some of their 2012 RISING ROOKIES CUP winners. At 63kg, Lightweight winner Yuya Fujita will move up to 63kg to battle 4th ranked Shohei Asahara. Some may be quick to point out Asahara's 5-fight losing streak, but those losses have come in extension rounds to Koji Yoshimoto and Yuto Watanabe, close, one point losses to Yusuke Sugawara and Sun Hyun Lee, and most recently, a split decision loss to Sho Ogawa. Although he has not been able to win any of these fights, he has stayed competitive with top competition, so he is no pushover for Fujita, who has won 5 in a row, including a stoppage win over Motochika Hanada. At 60kg, Super Featherweight winner Masanobu Goshu, who has headlined back to back RISE ZERO cards, puts his undefeated record on the line against KING, who was stopped by Sho Ogawa in his last outing. At 55kg, Bantamweight winner Yuta Murakoshi looks to rebound from a loss to Seiya Rokukawa against Hikaru Fujikashi. Finally at 63kg, Super Lightweight winner Keisuke Niwa faces All Japan Karate champion Shunji Miyata.